Redwood Technologies v. Broadcom: 7-Patent Wi-Fi Dispute Settled in 83 Days
Redwood Technologies, LLC filed suit against Broadcom Corporation in the Western District of Texas, asserting seven U.S. patents covering Wi-Fi physical-layer and MAC technologies across IEEE 802.11n, ac, ax, and be standards. The parties reached a confidential settlement and license agreement within 83 days — before any substantive court ruling — resulting in dismissal with prejudice.
Seven Wi-Fi Patents, One Chipmaker, and an 83-Day Race to License
On January 2, 2025, Redwood Technologies, LLC filed a patent infringement action against Broadcom Corporation in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (Case No. 6:25-cv-00003), before Judge Jason K. Pulliam. The complaint asserted seven U.S. patents — US7701920B2, US7826555B2, US9374209B2, US7359457B2, US10270574B2, US7460485B2, and US7983140B2 — against an extensive range of Broadcom BCM-series Wi-Fi chipsets compliant with IEEE 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, and 802.11be standards.
The case closed on March 26, 2025, just 83 days after filing, via a stipulated dismissal with prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). The dismissal was expressly tied to a Confidential Settlement and License Agreement executed on February 18, 2025 — meaning a deal was struck approximately 47 days into the litigation. Each party agreed to bear its own costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees, a common feature of negotiated patent license resolutions.
The speed of resolution — under three months — is consistent with a defendant of Broadcom’s scale preferring a licensing arrangement over prolonged litigation risk, particularly where seven patents spanning multiple Wi-Fi generations were asserted. The confidential nature of the license terms leaves royalty rates, field-of-use restrictions, and any cross-license provisions unknown from the public record. What is clear is that Redwood Technologies secured a license before the case reached claim construction.
Filing to Dismissed with Prejudice in 83 days
83 days — well below the median district court patent case duration of ~2.5 years, suggesting early settlement momentum
Dismissed with prejudice: what the settlement means for both parties
Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) stipulated dismissal with prejudice
A dismissal with prejudice under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) is filed by joint stipulation of all appearing parties. ‘With prejudice’ means Redwood Technologies is permanently barred from re-asserting the same claims against Broadcom on these seven patents. The dismissal was expressly conditioned on a confidential settlement and license agreement, making it a contractually secured exit rather than an unconditional drop.
Permanent bar on re-filingRedwood secures a license before claim construction
Redwood Technologies obtained a signed license agreement from one of the world’s largest Wi-Fi chipset suppliers in under seven weeks of active litigation. For a patent licensing entity, early monetisation without claim construction risk is typically a favourable outcome. The with-prejudice terms suggest Broadcom required finality across all seven patents as a condition of the deal. Financial terms remain confidential.
License secured, terms undisclosedBroadcom licenses out broad Wi-Fi patent exposure
Broadcom avoided prolonged multi-patent litigation over its BCM-series chipset portfolio — products that span consumer, enterprise, and carrier Wi-Fi markets. The with-prejudice dismissal and license agreement grant Broadcom certainty that Redwood cannot reassert these patents. Each party bearing its own costs suggests neither side conceded a dominant litigation position; the deal reflects commercial pragmatism over adjudicated outcome.
Litigation risk eliminatedWi-Fi chipset IP: licensing over litigation is the prevailing pattern
The rapid resolution of a 7-patent Wi-Fi suit against a major chipmaker signals that patent holders with credible standard-related Wi-Fi portfolios can extract licensing value quickly. For device OEMs and chipset integrators downstream of Broadcom’s BCM series, this case suggests continued active enforcement of Wi-Fi standard-adjacent patents. Companies shipping 802.11ax or 802.11be products should review FTO exposure across similar assertion portfolios.
Wi-Fi IP enforcement activeFull party and counsel information
| Role | Name | Type | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plaintiff | Redwood Technologies, LLC | Company | Wi-Fi patent licensing entity — holder of 7 IEEE 802.11 standard-essential candidate patentsSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant | Broadcom Corporation | Company | Broadcom Corporation — global semiconductor company and leading supplier of Wi-Fi chipsetsSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Plaintiff counsel | John Paul Murphy | Attorney | Counsel for Redwood Technologies, LLCSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Plaintiff counsel | Jonathan H. Rastegar | Attorney | Counsel for Redwood Technologies, LLCSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Plaintiff counsel | Patrick J. Conroy | Attorney | Counsel for Redwood Technologies, LLCSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Plaintiff counsel | T. William Kennedy , Jr. | Attorney | Counsel for Redwood Technologies, LLCSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Plaintiff law firm | Nelson Bumgardner Conroy PC | Law Firm | Representing Redwood Technologies, LLCSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant counsel | Joshua H. Lee | Attorney | Counsel for Broadcom CorporationSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant counsel | Kevin M. Bell | Attorney | Counsel for Broadcom CorporationSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant counsel | Paige Arnette Amstutz | Attorney | Counsel for Broadcom CorporationSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant counsel | Robert Pierce Earle | Attorney | Counsel for Broadcom CorporationSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant counsel | Russell A. Korn | Attorney | Counsel for Broadcom CorporationSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant law firm | Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP | Law Firm | Representing Broadcom CorporationSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant law firm | Scott Douglass & McConnico LLP | Law Firm | Representing Broadcom CorporationSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Presiding judge | Judge Jason K. Pulliam | Judge | Texas Western District CourtSearch in Eureka ↗ |
Official order — verbatim text
The stipulated dismissal language is precise: dismissal is ‘with prejudice’ and expressly ‘subject to the terms of’ a named confidential agreement, dated February 18, 2025. This drafting confirms the dismissal is contractually contingent — not a unilateral walk-away. The with-prejudice designation under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) operates as an adjudication on the merits for res judicata purposes, permanently extinguishing Redwood’s right to re-litigate these seven patents against Broadcom. The absence of a prevailing-party cost award implies a commercially negotiated exit.
US7701920B2 and 6 further Wi-Fi patents — MIMO, OFDM, and 802.11 MAC technologies
The seven asserted patents — US7701920B2, US7826555B2, US9374209B2, US7359457B2, US10270574B2, US7460485B2, and US7983140B2 — collectively span Wi-Fi physical layer processing, MIMO antenna techniques, OFDM-based modulation, MAC-layer protocols, and Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) quality-of-service mechanisms. Application dates range from the mid-2000s through the late 2010s, covering the full arc of IEEE 802.11 standard evolution from 802.11n through the emerging 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) generation. The portfolio’s breadth across multiple standard generations is central to its enforcement leverage.
For the semiconductor and wireless device sector, a portfolio spanning 802.11n through 802.11be is strategically significant: virtually every modern router, access point, smartphone, laptop, and IoT device incorporates at least one of these Wi-Fi generations. Broadcom’s BCM-series chipsets — over 70 specific part numbers were named in the complaint — represent a substantial share of the global Wi-Fi chipset market. Competitors and chipset integrators should treat this portfolio as an active enforcement risk, particularly as 802.11ax and 802.11be deployments accelerate globally.
Should you run an FTO against Redwood’s Wi-Fi patent portfolio?
Any company designing, manufacturing, or integrating IEEE 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, or 802.11be compliant chipsets or end-products should treat Redwood Technologies’ seven-patent portfolio as a live FTO concern. The portfolio targets physical layer, MIMO, OFDM, and MAC-layer implementations — functionality present in virtually all modern Wi-Fi silicon. The Broadcom settlement confirms the patents have commercial licensing value; downstream OEMs, white-label router vendors, and access point manufacturers using BCM-series or competing Wi-Fi silicon should assess their exposure now.
PatSnap Eureka’s FTO Search Agent can map each of the seven Redwood patents against your product architecture and relevant prior art, flagging claim elements most likely to read on your implementation. Eureka’s citation graph also surfaces related patents in the same family or filed by related entities, helping you identify whether Redwood holds continuation or divisional patents not yet asserted. For Wi-Fi standard-adjacent portfolios, proactive clearance is materially cheaper than reactive licensing.
Run a freedom-to-operate analysis on US7701920B2 to assess your product’s exposure
Run FTO in Eureka →Similar Wi-Fi patent infringement cases in W.D. Texas
Cases involving IEEE 802.11 standard-related patent assertions against semiconductor companies in the Western District of Texas, including comparable multi-patent Wi-Fi chipset disputes.
What this case signals for the Wi-Fi chipset IP landscape
A 7-patent Wi-Fi suit resolved via license in 83 days has clear implications for chipmakers, OEMs, and standard-adjacent patent holders.
Early settlement suggests credible claim charts across multiple Wi-Fi generations
Broadcom’s decision to license within ~47 days of filing — before any substantive motion practice — suggests Redwood’s claim charts against the BCM-series chipsets were commercially credible. Patent holders asserting across 802.11n through 802.11be face a high mapping burden; early capitulation by a sophisticated defendant typically indicates that burden was met.
W.D. Texas remains an active venue for Wi-Fi and semiconductor IP enforcement
Despite post-Waco venue scrutiny, Redwood filed in the Western District of Texas and achieved a fast resolution. The court’s familiarity with patent infringement scheduling and Judge Pulliam’s docket both factor into defendant calculus when weighing early settlement against litigation risk. Semiconductor IP plaintiffs continue to favour this district.
Redwood v Broadcom — key questions answered
Redwood Technologies asserted seven U.S. patents: US7701920B2, US7826555B2, US9374209B2, US7359457B2, US10270574B2, US7460485B2, and US7983140B2. These cover Wi-Fi physical layer processing, MIMO, OFDM modulation, MAC-layer protocols, and Wi-Fi Multimedia quality-of-service across IEEE 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, and 802.11be standards.
The case was dismissed with prejudice on March 26, 2025, pursuant to a stipulated dismissal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). The dismissal was conditioned on a Confidential Settlement and License Agreement dated February 18, 2025. Each party bore its own costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees.
The complaint identified over 70 Broadcom BCM-series chipset part numbers, including BCM43012, BCM4360, BCM4389, BCM4398, BCM6715, BCM6756, BCM6765, and related series. These span Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) through Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) and are used in routers, access points, smartphones, and IoT devices.
The with-prejudice dismissal bars Redwood from re-asserting these seven patents against Broadcom specifically. Whether downstream OEMs using Broadcom’s BCM chipsets are protected depends on the scope of the confidential license agreement — specifically whether it extends to Broadcom’s customers. That information is not in the public record. OEMs should seek indemnification confirmation from Broadcom directly.
The Western District of Texas, particularly under its patent-experienced judges, remains a preferred venue for patent assertion entities due to its historically plaintiff-friendly scheduling orders and manageable time-to-trial. While post-2021 venue transfer orders have tempered filings, the district continues to attract Wi-Fi and semiconductor IP cases. Redwood filed on January 2, 2025, and the case resolved before any venue transfer motion was decided.
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